The weather helped, but so did several hundred thousand troops in and around Stalingrad. I don't think the French were prepared to sacrifice so many lives to make the stand. Fortunately for us all the Russians were, if Stallingrad had fallen the oil fields in the south were next and the outcome of the war could have been very different if the Germans had taken them, starving the Rusians of oil at the same time as feeding their own armies with it. TBH Hitler should have gone straight for the oil and left Stalingrad for later. Or really he should have finished off the Brits both here and in North Africa and then consolidated his position before attacking Russia in the first place.

First time it happened to me I turned the ignition off at traffic lights, left it in drive, lights go green, car won't start much to everyone's annoyance. Even worse I realised and knocked it into park just seconds before the lights changed, engine fired up, I shot off through the lights as they changed leaving some seriously pissed drivers at the now red light!

Have also encountered the same problem with it in park and it was immobiliser and cost a fortune, since figured the garage didn't have a clue though and were almost certainly taking the piss out of me

Stalingrad was a battle of egos as well as the horrendous bloodbath and turning point of the Russian invasion (and the War)that it was. Stalin used the commodity he had in plentiful supply-people who were often used as cannon fodder.No other Allied leader would have made such a sacrifice of it's own people. For Hitler taking Stalingrad was a point of principle for which he sacrificed one of his best armies and led ultimately to his defeat.
Any updates on the repair?

Stalin used the commodity he had in plentiful supply-people who were often used as cannon fodder.No other Allied leader would have made such a sacrifice of it's own people

Serious question, would it better to sacrifice a million soldiers to stop the invasion or to give up straight away and live under the Nazi ocupation?
The second option may be better short-term but long-term I think the first.
Of course, weight of numbers doesn't always lead to victory, like the Chinese in Korea in the 1950s.

Bloody French!Probably thrown together after an extended lunch
andrewh-Stalin would have been proud of your pragmatic view,not sure any non dictator would have been able to get the support for such a sacrifice.The Russians who were able to would probably have retreated to the hinterland to regroup.